- Compiled, prepared, presented by: Eric Knapp 
Mule Creek State Prison 

I. RULES, REGULATIONS, POLICIES, PROCEDURES 
A. Local Authority 

MCSP frequently cites its own operating procedures as final authority for denying inmate appeals and MAC requests even though Title 15 and/or D.O.M. might state something contrary to what is cited as justification for denials. Operational procedures (which MCSP refers to as the "MCSP Department Operations Manual") are subordinate to D.O.M. and Title 15, not superior. Even though local operating procedures must first be approved by the CDC director whenever amended and before being implemented, MCSP uses many which have no such approval. Many of MCSP's operating procedures are therefore rogue and should not be cited as authority for denials when Title 15 and/or D.O.M. state something more favorable to MCSP inmates. 

B. Supreme Authority? From the way MCSP seems to get away with always inventing and enforcing rules, regulations, and policies which have no foundation in administrative law (D.O.M. or Title 15), it seems to us, the Facility "B" general inmate population, that either the Legislature, the Senate Public Safety Committee, or the CDC director has bestowed some type of supreme authority upon MCSP to do whatever it wants to the incarcerated men within its walls and get away with misinterpreting administrative law however it sees fit. We want MCSP to be held accountable when it does not follow rules, regulations, and policies in a manner which is as favorable to us as possible without jeopardizing or compromising the institution's safety and security. 

C. In-Service Training (IST) 
MCSP staff conduct, attend IST classes for sixty to ninety minutes at least eight days per month during time otherwise scheduled for us to take showers, make phone calls, have access to the exercise yard, attend chapel services, and participate in recreational activities. IST is also conducted/attended on days not authorized/scheduled by MCSP operating procedures. 

Collectively speaking, MCSP inmates have been to just about every level-III and level-IV prison in California so know from personal experience that IST is not conducted elsewhere during time normally scheduled for prisoners to participate in program activities. Our MAC representatives have complained about this issue on our behalf many times in the past, but the problem continues. We want IST to either stop being conducted during our time or be conducted only on days approved, authorized, and scheduled by MCSP operating procedures. 

D. Alarms 
MCSP requires inmates to drop to the ground and remain there for long periods of time whenever an alarm goes off on entirely separate yards. We have collectively been to every level-III prison in California and only MCSP requires inmates to do this. It makes no sense to us because MCSP is the least violent prison in California. Any incidents which occur on a yard are always able to be handled by only that yard's responding staff. Making inmates drop to the ground when an alarm goes off on another yard is an example of MCSP practicing blanket punishment and unnecessarily treating us differently than prisoners are treated at other California prison. 

E. Fog Procedures 
MCSP frequently experiences heavy morning fog during winter months which require all inmates to be accounted for (counted) immediately after the morning meal (which means all inmates remain locked inside their cells until fog count clears). However, we are not let out of our cells for sometimes hours after the morning meal even though all fog has been gone for hours. We want staff to stop leaving us locked inside our cells after fog has cleared. 

F. Heat-Alert Procedures 
When summer temperatures reach 90°F, inmates on heat-sensitive medications are required to return to their housing units to get out of the heat and be accounted for by officers. However, MCSP forces ALL Facility "B" inmates (not just those on heat-sensitive medication) to not only return to our housing units, but also get locked inside our cells while inmates on heat-sensitive medication get counted. tie are then kept locked inside our cells for hours when we could instead be taking showers (many of us were outside on the exercise yard all hot and sweaty when it reached 90°F), making phone calls, doing laundry, or any number of other things more preferable than being stuck inside a hot 6' x 9' cell with another man waiting for the count of inmates on heat-sensitive medication to clear before being released from our cells. We want MCSP to stop locking all Facility "B" inmates inside our cells when outside temperatures reach 100°F. Instead, allow us to continue with whatever we were doing and require only the heat-sensitive inmates to return to their housing units -- appropriately disciplining those who fail to return. 

II. INMATE APPEALS 

A. Responses 
Responses by MCSP staff to inmate appeals and grievances are commonly surly, condescending, and often fail to meet mandatory time limits set forth in Title 15 § 3084.6. Valid appeal issues are rarely decided in our favor by department heads (first-level reviewers) or the warden (,second-level reviewer) if previously denied by lower levels of appeal review. We want appeal responses to be on time (and/or in compliance with Title 15 § 3084.6 when delayed) and responded to as favorably to MCSP inmates as possible within the guidelines of protecting the safety and security of the institution, its staff and inmates, and the public. 

III. EMPLOYEES 
A. Lack of Respect Much contempt, hostility, and disrespect is shown by several MCSP staff members toward the approximately 1,200 men with sensitive-/protective-housing needs on Facility "B" at MCSP. Some staff refer to us as "punks", "rats", "drop-outs", "pieces of shit", and other such derogatory names. tie are frequently cussed at and talked down to like we are little children. Some staff seem to think that because we are not practicing violence against them and each other, we deserve less respect than that received by prisoners at more violent prisons. We want all MCSP staff to treat us with due respect and stop psychologically pushing inmates around just because they know that most of us prefer to not have to push back. 

B. Misconduct 
When employee misconduct is reported by inmates and/or their outside supporters (family members, friends, attorneys, etc.), MCSP invariably sides with employees regardless of their culpability. Such lack of accountability makes employees believe they are invulnerable to disciplinary action and above all rules, regulations, and laws concerning employee misconduct toward inmates and/or their supporters. Further, MCSP seems to condone and even facilitate retaliation against inmates who report employee misconduct. MCSP allows employees to continue working in areas where many complaints about them originate. We want MCSP to take our reports of employee misconduct seriously and take appropriate disciplinary action against staff members who commit misconduct. 

C. Medical Staff 
Some of MCSP's doctors, MTAs, and other medical staff often become extremely disrespectful, unprofessional, condescending, and even hostile to men who come to them for medical care and treatment. Although the misconduct of the worse offenders (e.g., "Dr." Douglas) is routinely reported, nothing changes. We want staff to be held accountable and disciplined (just as we are) when misconduct is committed which subjects us to disrespect, contempt, hostility, and other such indignities. 

D. EOP Inmates 
Some of the correctional staff who work in the EOP housing unit treat inmate mental-health patients with contempt, hostility, condescension, and disrespect. Such conduct not only brings great discredit upon the officers, MCSP, and CDC, but also aggravates the mental conditions which many of the EOP inmate-patients suffer. We want to see an end to the harassment EOP inmates suffer at the hands of certain correctional staff. Tae also want to see correctional staff held accountable and disciplined when they do commit such misconduct. 

E. Abuse of Authority 
Several MCSP staff members presume to have carte blanc authority to violate due process and not follow established rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. For example, on February 26, 2002, an inmate exiting the dining facility after breakfast was confronted by a sergeant because his hair was longer than allowed by inmate grooming standards. The sergeant told the inmate he is placing him on "C" status and ordered officers in his housing unit to confiscate his red privilege and green identification cards. "C" status can only be imposed by a classification committee on only inmates who generate significant disciplinary histories in a 120-day period (either two serious rules violation reports, or three rules violation reports -- either administrative or serious). This sergeant's attitude and actions give only one example of the arrogance with which certain MCSP staff members flaunt, ignore, and show contempt for the established rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of the California Department of Corrections and the state and federal laws governing operations of prisons, treatment of prisoners, and inmate rights. 

F. Citizens Complaints 
Several complaints and reports of employee misconduct have been presented to MCSP by the family members, friends, and supporters of MCSP inmates pursuant to CA Penal Code § 832.5. Despite the 30-day time limit to acknowledge receipt of such complaints/reports, and the 1-year time limit to provide final responses, MCSP does not comply. Further, MCSP allows inmates whose outside supporters file such complaints/reports to be harassed and retaliated against by prison staff (frequent and harassing cell searches, confinement in ad-seg, etc.). 

G. CCPOA 
(Union) Representatives Some of the correctional officers at MCSP who are union (CCPOA) representatives try to give inmates the impression that they actually run MCSP. We frequently observe and hear about mere correctional officers chewing out other correctional officers with more seniority, sergeants, lieutenants; captains, and MCSP administrators with impunity. Often it is the officers themselves who brag to us about the "power" they wield to influence MCSP policy. We hear about officers threatening MCSP supervisory and administrative staff with union complaints and stress claims to get their way in dictating inmate program activities and unlocks. CCPOA representatives have telephoned other correctional officers in front of us and given instructions to ignore memos, orders, and directives given by sergeants and other higher-ranking staff. We believe that what we see and report here needs to be kept between staff and not aired in front of us. Because of our sensitive-housing needs, we expect MCSP staff to be professional and united in looking out for our safety. How can we have confidence in MCSP's supervisory and administrative staff when correctional officers claim and often demonstrate an inappropriate amount of influence, control, and power over MCSP rules, regulations, policies, and leadership? 

H. Power Conflicts 
We constantly witness unprofessionalism, disrespect, backbiting, gossip, and petty squabbles among some of MCSP's staff members. We frequently observe correctional officers threatening to make stress claims and other complaints to their union (CCPOA) if certain conditions are not met. We get the impression that the CCPOA representatives who are mere correctional officers presume to have control over MCSP and supervisory/administrative staff. Upper echelons of MCSP leadership seem intimidated by CCPOA representatives to the point that they cater to the demands of correctional officers, often at the expense of the rights, privileges, amenities, accommodations, and fair/proper treatment of MCSP inmates. 

I. Retaliation 
When appeals and grievances are filed by inmates and/or their visitors, inmates are often retaliated against, harassed, and threatened with such things as confinement in ad-seg, transfer to unsafe institutions, loss of privileges, frequent and antagonizing cell searches, and other forms of intimidation intended to make us withdraw complaints. 

IV. HEALTH, SAFETY, HYGIENE, SANITATION 
A. Food-Handling Practices We feel the following unsatisfactory conditions exist because certain staff members are not properly performing their duties and responsibilities: 

1. Inmate kitchen workers are not trained in or made to follow sanitary hygiene practices. They receive no formal training of any kind on using plastic food-handling gloves to prevent contaminating food with germs, bacteria, and other microorganisms. We want all inmate kitchen workers to receive such training on a regular basis. 

2. Inmate kitchen workers have been observed continuing to serve food with the same disposable plastic food-handling gloves after coughing and sneezing into gloved hands; touching, rubbing, and scratching various body parts; and touching contaminated/non-food surfaces (counters, tray bottoms, clothing, etc.). We want inmate kitchen workers trained to be conscientious of what their gloved hands touch while working with/around food, and to be required to change gloves whenever they become contaminated with unsanitary surfaces. 

3. Inmate kitchen workers talk, laugh, cough, and sneeze while standing over open pans and trays of food while preparing and serving meals. Spit and other debris flying out of their mouths lands directly in our food. We want inmate kitchen workers to be more conscientious around our food. 

4. Inmate kitchen workers do not change disposable plastic food-handling gloves as frequently as the should while serving meals. Gloves are supposed to be changed whenever they come into contact with anything other than the serving utensil which is supposed to be used to serve food. 

5. Employees allow inmate kitchen workers to serve food with gloved hands instead of serving utensils. Inmate kitchen workers have been observed serving portions of wet food onto trays by scooping handfuls of the item with gloved hands instead of a serving utensil. 

6. Inmate kitchen workers mix salad dressing into large pans of lettuce with gloved hands, apparently oblivious to the fact that the bare skin on their wrists and arms, as well as their filthy shirt sleeves, come into contact with the lettuce/dressing mixture.. we frequently find hair, lint, and other unpalatable items in our food. We want tongs or other utensils used to mix dressing into salads instead of gloved hands being shoved elbow-deep into salad pans to do the job. 

7. Inmate kitchen workers dip and trail shirt and jacket sleeves into our food when reaching over trays and food pans. 

8. Inmate kitchen workers put food which has been dropped onto the floor or countertop onto trays without any consideration for whomever will have to eat it, and without any interference from supervisors. 

9. Inmate kitchen workers must use a toilet located within the kitchen area. Hand soap and paper towels are not always available for use, so workers return to food preparation and handling with unwashed hands after being in or using toilet facilities. 

10. Inmates with the epidemic hepatitis-C virus are working with/around our food. We have been told by MCSP medical staff that infected inmates may work in the kitchen. However, an agent of the Amador County Health Department told the pre-release class that infected humans are not supposed to be working with/around food intended for public consumption. We want inmates infected with diseases such as hepatitis-C to be kept away from kitchen areas where our food is being prepared and served. 

11. EOP inmates are allowed to work with/around our food. Many of these mental health inmate patients do not shower or wash/change their clothes as often as they should. We do not want EOP inmate patients working in kitchen areas where our food is being prepared and served. 

12. Inmate kitchen workers carrying brooms enter the dining area where we are still eating and begin sweeping as soon as the dining area begins to be released one row of tables at a time. This stirs up a lot of dust and microbes for those of us still eating, and creates anger toward the inmate kitchen workers whose supervisors order them to sweep while men are still eating. lie want sweeping of dining areas to be done after feeding is over and all diners have left. 

B. Hep-C Kitchen Workers 
MCSP allows inmates with the hepatitis-C virus (HCV) to work in prison kitchens preparing and handling our food. HCV is an epidemic disease sweeping through the U.S. and California prison system. We feel it is highly irresponsible, dangerous, and deliberately indifferent to our health and safety to let inmates with infectious and communicable diseases work in prison kitchens. We want all infected/diseasei inmates at MCSP to be restricted from working anywhere near our food. 

C. Non-SNI Food Handlers 
MCSP houses approximately 2,350 sensitive-needs inmates (SNIs) on sub-facilities "A" and "B". Sub-facility "C" houses approximately 1,180 inmates who do not have sensitive needs. However, all food for the entire prison population is prepared in the Facility "C" main kitchen by inmates who do not have sensitive needs. Inmates without sensitive needs despise inmates who do have sensitive needs. They frequently contaminate our food and do whatever they can get away with to express their contempt for us. We frequently find sand, hair, metal, and other unexplainable items in our food. We feel that MCSP's main kitchen should be located on a sensitive-needs yard and operated by sensitive-needs inmates to protect us from the malicious and sadistic acts committed against us by inmates who do not have sensitive needs. We were informed by staff several months ago that an inmate on Facility "C" had been caught urinating in Jell-0 designated for Facility "B". We do not know how true that rumor was, but we frequently hear such stories which cause us great concern as a population for our health and safety. 

D. BOP Diners 
There are approximately two hundred EOP inmates on Facility "B" at MCSP housed in Building 110. For whatever reason's), many of these mental health patients neither shower nor wash/change their clothes as frequently as they should. This causes them to smell bad and offend the general population inmates who have to sit with them in the dining facility. We want EOP inmates to be required to shower daily, change/wash their clothes more frequently, and sit at least one table from us so we don't have to smell them while trying to eat meals which are unappetizing enough without the smell of unwashed bodies and clothes making things worse. 

E. Inmate Barbers 
"Barbers" at MCSP who cut our hair are inmates who receive no formal or professional training of any kind in either health, hygiene, and sanitation procedures, or in proper hair-cutting techniques. Barber shops are not provided nor are barbers promptly given replacement parts when barber tools become broken, dull, or worn. Barber aprons are not laundered as often as they should be (every day), and barbers are not given barbicide capable of killing hepatitis-C and HIV. The law requires that even barbers who cut the hair of prisoners will have special training, equipment, and accommodations. Since inmate grooming standards are currently being imposed on us by CDC, we want MCSP to protect our health by establishing better barber accommodations which meet California Health and Safety Code standards. 

F. Showers 
Several MCSP inmates have slipped, fallen, and injured themselves both inside showers and when stepping into/out of showers. The cheap shower shoes sold in the inmate canteen quickly become worn and smooth on the bottoms. The supposedly "non-slip" surfaces painted on the floor in front of all showers quickly wears away and becomes dangerously slick when wet. Work orders requesting that shower areas be resurfaced with "non-slip" coating take forever to get completed. We want safer shower areas and the ability to obtain better-quality shower shoes from canteen, quarterly packages, and vendor purchases. 

G. Non-SNI laundry Workers 
MCSP houses approximately 2,350 sensitive-needs inmates (SNIs) on sub-facilities "A" and "B". Sub-facility "C" houses approximately 1,180 inmates who do not have sensitive needs. However, all laundry for the entire prison population is washed in the Facility "C" main laundry by inmates who do not have sensitive needs. Inmates without sensitive needs despise those of us who do. They frequently do whatever they can to express their contempt for us. Inmates who have come to Facility "B" from Facility "C" tell us to never send our laundry in to be washed in the Facility "C" main laundry. They tell us that the inmate laundry workers .on Facility "C" spit on our clothes, urinate on them, steal clothes out of them, put them into washing machines with no soap or crammed so full that proper agitation/cleaning does not occur, and many other such things. tie feel that MCSP's main laundry should be located on a sensitive-needs yard and operated by sensitive-needs inmates to protect us from the malicious and sadistic acts committed by inmates who do not have sensitive needs against those who do. 

H. Potholes 
Despite several requests by our MAC, MCSP has failed to repair all the potholes and uneven surfaces on the recreation/exercise track and field which fill with water and mud whenever it rains and present serious safety hazards for both inmates and staff. 

V. MEDICAL 
A. Care 
MCSP provides us with "medical care" which we feel falls far below acceptable standards. Men have to wait weeks and months to be seen by a doctor, get treated disrespectfully by medical staff, receive incorrect diagnoses of medical conditions, have prescriptions suddenly changed or stopped without having been informed by a doctor, and are forced to report to work with contagious colds and/or viruses which require rest and could contaminate/infect others (especially when kitchen workers are the ones who get sick and are forced to work). 

Several of the deaths and irreversible medical conditions which have occurred and developed during the past several years at MCSP could have been avoided or corrected if properly diagnosed and treated by medical staff. Such malpractice and neglect is cruel and inhumane. Animals in zoos and shelters receive better medical care than we do. Many of the men incarcerated. within MCSP were doctors, nurses, and emergency medical service providers. Others of us have had enough experience with medical care when we were free to recognize deplorable conditions when we see them. 

B. Charges 
Inmates at MCSP are being charged additional $5.00 co-payment fees for follow-up doctor visits and consultations. For example, inmates who have blood tests done or x-rays taken must fill out a second request for medical services and pay an additional $5.00 to receive test results and/or follow-up care and consultation. If an inmate wants a copy of his blood test results, he must pay .102 per page. Title 15 Sect; 3354.2(c)(1) states that the $5.00 co-payment fee shall cover the evaluation, assessment, and medically necessary treatment, INCLUDING FOLLOW-UP SERVICES RELATED TO THE INITIAL CONDITION determined by health care staff to be necessary. We want men incarcerated within MCSP to stop being unnecessarily and wrongfully charged for follow-up medical services. 

C. Medical Line 
Inmates at MCSP must stand outdoors for long periods of time (sometimes several hours) while waiting in line to receive prescription medications and/or medical/dental care. There is no shelter, overhead or otherwise, to protect men from rain, heat/sun, and cold/wind. Nor are men issued rain gear and insulated jackets to protect them from the weather and keep them warm and dry (as mandated by § 3030(b)(1)(F) in Title 15). We want all MCSP inmates to be issued rain gear and insulated jackets in compliance with the law. Tie also want some type of overhead awning or shelter built to protect med-line users from rain, cold, heat, and direct sunlight (to avoid heat exhaustion and sunburn). 

D. Dental 
Instead of performing proper dental procedures on our teeth, MCSP dental staff will only pull them out when we get cavities or require dental services such as caps or work on root canals. Instead of bridges and partial dentures, dental staff want to yank all teeth out of a jaw so full dentures may be made. The dental care we receive falls far below societal standards. 

E. Hep-C Care & Treatment 
MCSP inmates diagnosed with the hepatitis-C virus (HCV) are not being provided with the proper and most effective treatment and care. They receive the inferior generation of alpha interferon (Intergen) instead of the more superior pegalated interferon (Pegintron). Inmates with HCV are given disciplinary "A" days when their medications make them too ill to report to work. They must also stand outdoors for long periods of time in the rain, cold, heat, and wind without rain gear, insulated jackets, or overhead/other shelter while waiting to receive interferon injections. We want MCSP's many HCV patients to receive the most effective HCV treatment possible, excused time off (ETO) when they are too ill to report to work, rain gear and insulated jackets as required by Title 15 § 3030(b)(1)(F), and to not have to wait outdoors to receive interferon injections. 

F. Special Diets Unlike other California prisons many of us have been to, MCSP does not provide special diets/foods for the many men incarcerated here with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity problems, and special religious dietary needs. 

VI. FOOD SERVICES 
A. Service MCSP employees do not enforce proper preparation of trays, and refuse to correct mistakes made by inmate kitchen workers. The following problems exist because employees and supervisors are not properly performing their duties and responsibilities: 

1. Menu items carelessly slopped or sloshed onto trays and mixed together with other items (e.g., cake bottoms made soggy by vegetable juice, vegetables mixed with pudding, etc.). 

2. For every several trays which might have equal/decent portion sizes, one or two will have unequal/small portions (meat, cake, rolls, etc.). These inequalities could easily be compensated, but staff refuse to cooperate. 

B. Portions 
Supervisory kitchen staff refuse to enforce portion sizes indicated on menus. Inmate kitchen workers use ladles, scoops, and spoons not equivalent to designated portion sizes (i.e., using 4-ounce serving utensils to serve items which the menu says are supposed to be 6 ounces). This creates hunger and irritability in the men being shorted, animosity toward the inmate kitchen workers not being properly supervised, and resentment toward the employees who are not properly carrying out their assigned duties and responsibilities. 

C. Quality/Quantity 
MCSP has the men incarcerated within its walls on a "heart-healthy" diet which is high in carbohydrates and low in protein and fat. While this diet may be ideal for endurance athletes and people who are able to eat whenever hungry, it is miserable for prisoners who only receive two cooked meals and a sack lunch per day. Carbohydrates do not satisfy hunger pangs as do proteins and fats. People on high carbohydrate diets must eat often (at least five times per day) to avoid becoming hungry and tired (hypoglycemic). Feeding only three high-carb, low-protein/-fat meals to inmates is cruel because we never feel full and are always hungry, lightheaded, and miserable between meals. We either want off this "heart-healthy" diet, or to be fed a larger variety and volume of food. 

D. Wet Trays 
MCSP scullery machines do not properly dry trays. As a result, wet trays come directly from the sculleries to the serving line where food is slopped onto them while still wet. Trays are supposed to be dry when food is placed onto them so that any germs, bacteria, or other microbes which live in the filthy water found in scullery machines will be unable to contaminate food. The final stage of scullery machine washing is supposed to be a high-heat pass intended to speed drying and kill germs and bacteria. We want MCSP's scullery machines to work properly, and for our food to stop being placed onto wet trays. 

E. Citrus; Sweeteners 
Not too long ago, oranges, grapefruits, and other fruits were regularly served to us with breakfast and lunch. A temporary acting warden (Hickman) decided he would try to eliminate inmate-manufactured alcohol from MCSP by removing citrus and other items (i.e., sugar and honey) from our diet. Despite the fact that MCSP inmates continue to make wine on a regular basis, and although prisoners at other level-III and level-IV prisons are receiving these items, MCSP refuses to bring them back. The only fresh fruit we get now is apples and an occasional banana. We are also forced to sweeten foods and beverages with artificial sweeteners loaded with chemicals. This is punitive against the entire general inmate population of MCSP for the actions of less than one percent of the total number of men incarcerated here. We want citrus, sugar, and honey returned to us. 

F. Pork 
MCSP removed bacon, sausage, chops, ham, ribs, and other pork food items from our diet. We have been told that this was done to accommodate MCSP's Muslim, Jewish, and Seventh-day Adventist inmates. Title 15 § 3054(c) sufficiently provides for accommodating the minority number of inmates with special religious dietary needs without affecting the general inmate population. No valid reason can therefore be given for eliminating food items enjoyed and desired by the majority of MCSP inmates. We want pork food items back on the menus. We also want inmates with special religious dietary needs to be generously compensated pursuant to Title 15 § 3054(c) when they are unable to eat certain menu items containing pork. 

VII. HOUSING CONDITIONS 
A. Cell Temperatures Winter air temperature in our cells is always too hot or too cold despite numerous complaints and work requests made every year by both staff and inmates. There is no balance or consistency in air temperatures between each housing unit's three sections. We want winter cell temperatures to be comfortable and consistent at all times during the entire year and immediately fixed,/adjusted when reported (it currently takes several weeks for MCSP staff to respond to work orders). 

B. Air Quality 
Air quality in MCSP housing units and cells is poor and unhealthy. Filters on air-intake vents inside housing units are neither changed nor cleaned as often as they should be. Many of the men incarcerated at MCSP have persistent sinus problems due to the poor air quality inside housing units and cells. Headaches, sinus infections, breathing problems, and bloody noses are common complaints among prisoners at all times of the year. We want improved air quality in all MCSP housing units and cells. 

C. Summer Heat 
MCSP cells and housing units become extremely hot and uncomfortable during summer months. A proposal written by an MCSP inmate who spent two years at Calipatria State Prison (where outdoor summer temperatures get up to 130 deg;F while indoor cell and housing unit temperatures remain cool and comfortable) was submitted through our MAC suggesting several low-cost methods to alleviate summer heat problems at MCSP, but, as usual, MCSP failed to provide the timely written response required by administrative law (see VII. MEN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL, B. Staff Responses). We want MCSP to take the steps suggested through our MAC to alleviate the miserable housing conditions we experience every year during summer months 

D. Cold Showers 
Shower temperatures in the winter are uncomfortably cold every year despite numerous complaints. Water is warm for the first few minutes of the first shower, but turns and remains cold for the remainder of everyone else's shower time (approximately two to five hours). We want warm showers during winter months. 

E. Cell Partners 
Approximately 2,350 inmates at MCSP have sensitive case factors and housing needs. However, MCSP forces men who are not compatible to share 6' x 9' cells meant for only one person, MCSP imposes disciplinary action such as ad-seg and rules violation reports against men who refuse to live with certain inmates. We know who we will and will not end up fighting with when locked together inside a small space. When we refuse to live with someone, it is because we want to avoid injury to ourselves, to whomever MCSP is forcing us to live with, and/or to the staff who will have to respond when we end up fighting. We want to have final say in who gets put into a cell with us. 

F._  Gym Housing 
14CSP packs approximately 180 level-II inmates into an area not much larger than a regulation-size basketball court. Such "housing" is supposed to be "emergency" and "temporary" (which means inmates are not supposed to remain housed in such conditions for more than ninety days), but many level-II inmates have been forced to live in the gym for years. MCSP's Facility "B" is designated as a level-III yard for level-III inmates with sensitive case factors and housing needs. Having an additional almost two hundred level-II inmates crammed onto the same yard with one thousand level-III inmates creates a burden on all inmates collectively (especially when you consider that MCSP's Facility "B" was designed to house only five hundred inmates, not almost three times that number). 

Level-III inmates (most of whom are lifers or serving lengthy sentences) are adversely affected by the level-II inmates in matters of job assignments (almost every gym occupant is assigned to jobs meant for level-III inmates) and visiting space (,visits have to be terminated early every week due to so many gym occupants getting visits on top of the number of level-III inmates who get visits). Since gym housing is supposed to be temporary, we want to see level-II inmates sent to a sensitive-needs level-II prison as soon as their "temporary" status has expired (we have been informed that ninety days is supposed to be the maximum amount of time men may be forced to suffer this type of makeshift and substandard housing). 

G. Modesty Dividers in Gym 
Approximately 540 men, who are forced to live in small gymnasiums at MCSP, have to share a single row of ten toilets spaced only twelve inches apart. These men must suffer and endure the daily humiliation of having to defecate and wipe themselves in full view of others. Despite repeated requests and proposals through our MAC, MCSP refuses to install modesty dividers between the toilets to afford gym occupants some degree of dignity and privacy while performing eliminatory functions. 

VIII. PROPERTY, QUARTERLY PACKAGES, VENDOR PURCHASES, 
A. Allowable Property whenever inmates transfer to/from MCSP, they must either give up several items of personal property because allowable property items vary from prison to prison based on no recognizable or consistent guidelines. We want to see allowable personal property standardized among all prisons (according to level) so that we will not have personal property taken from us whenever we transfer to/from MCSP. 

We also want MCSP to let us possess all items of personal property which we can demonstrate are allowed at other level-III and level-IV prisons. 

B. Staff/Packages/Property 
Quarterly packages and vendor purchases are frequently issued to us by certain MCSP officers in a surly and begrudging manner. There is no consistency between officers in what they will allow or deny from one inmate, package, or day to the next. Inmates are not advised of their right to appeal an officer's denial of package items. We want standardized fairness, latitude, and consistency in what we may receive in our quarterly packages and vendor purchases. 

C. Outside Vendors 
MCSP seems to be in cahoots with the good of boys at Walkenhorst's mail-order catalog company to corner the inmate market at MCSP and monopolize the majority of special purchases we make from outside vendors; thus illegally allowing Walkenhorst's to charge higher prices because they have no/little competition. Walkenhorst's is a California mail-order prison vendor founded by former employees/affiliates of the CA Department of Corrections. Evidence that implicates MCSP in assisting Walkenhorst's in getting more business from MCSP inmates than other vendors is the special Walkenhorst's catalog MCSP and Walkenhorst's put together which shows only items which may be purchased from Walkenhorst's. Additionally, MCSP allows us to purchase up to ten pounds of food items per month from Walkenhorst's only (no other vendors are approved for such food purchases). Walkenhorst's is too expensive. For example, the Sony CFD-V17 AM/FM radio with cassette/CD player is sold to us by Walkenhorst's for $90.00. The exact same item sells for .$50.00 at Good Guys, J.C. Penney's, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, and Target. We want to be able to purchase from a wider selection of vendors to get the best quality, service, and merchandise for our money. 

D. Clear-Cabinet Policy 
Title 15 § 3190 states that institutions may allow inmates to possess any two of the following items: one television, one musical instrument, one radio, one tape/disk player, one typewriter. MCSP recently implemented its own policy which now requires these allowable property items to be encased in transparent plastic. Items encased in clear plastic are sold by the only two vendors MCSP allows us to buy from, but the items are off brands and of extremely low quality compared to items not encased in clear plastic made by more reputable manufacturers. Since inmates at other California prisons are allowed to purchase/possess property not encased in clear plastic, and since the clear-cabinet policy invented by MCSP is not a departmental requirement, we want to be able to purchase/possess the higher-quality property items not encased in clear plastic. 

E. Canned Items 
Other level-III and level-IV prisons in California allow inmates to receive canned good in quarterly packages. We want the same privileges. 

F. Footlockers 
The CDC Operations Manual, §§ 54030.4.4 and 54030.3.2 specifically authorizes prisoners to possess footlockers. MCSP has always before allowed us to purchase and possess footlockers. When contraband was found hidden within the construction of only a few footlockers (we were told by staff that it was only about five), 14CSP told all 3,500 inmates that they may no longer purchase footlockers. This is unfair blanket punishment. We want MCSP to resume allowing us to purchase footlockers as authorized by the CDC operations manual. 

G. Typewriters 
MCSP inmates are not allowed to purchase word-processing typewriters which have non-removable memory capabilities even though such typewriters are allowed at many other level-III and level-IV prisons in California. We want to be able to purchase word-processing memory typewriters which do not have removable memory/storage capabilities (floppy disk drives/ports). 

H. Containers 
When we purchase items from canteen, food sales, etc., or when items such as coffee or protein powder are sent to us in quarterly packages and vendor purchases, the containers which hold such items are as much our personal property as the item inside. Certain MCSP officers take it upon themselves to arbitrarily come into our cells and crush, cut, and otherwise destroy all containers in our possession which no longer contain the original item(s). We use, want, and keep containers for storage of other items. Since such containers belong to us as items of personal property, we want MCSP staff to stop destroying and confiscating them. We are adult men who know how to dispose of garbage and/or unnecessary property. We want to make our own decisions about what to do with non-contraband personal property items -- not have those decisions capriciously made for us by officers. 

I. Lighters 
Other prisons allow cigarette lighters. MCSP took lighters away and installed three stationary electric lighter boxes outside on the exercise yard. Men experiencing nicotine withdrawals have learned to light cigarettes inside their cells by arcing electricity from wall sockets. This causes damage to sockets resulting in added repair costs to MCSP's already tight budget. We want MCSP to either allow us to purchase cigarette lighters again, or just prohibit tobacco entirely so men will be able to quit smoking altogether and stop damaging prison property and not have to suffer nicotine withdrawals between yard periods and during facility/institution lock-downs. 

J. Hot Pots 
Several level-III and level-IV prisons in California allow inmates to purchase and possess the Rival HotPot Express which has a warm-boil temperature dial, holds 32 ounces, and is equipped with a built-in safety feature which prevents overheating and fire. The Rival HotPot Express allows men to cook beans, lentils, pasta, vegetables, and other foods to supplement inadequate prison menus. The so-called "hot pot" which MCSP currently allows us to have is nothing more than a pitcher-type water heater in which water will not boil and food cannot be cooked. We want to be able to purchase the Rival HotPot Express which is allowed at other prisons (many of which are level-IV and have much greater security concerns and fewer built-in security features than MCSP). 

K. A/C Adapters 
Other level-III and level-IV prisons in California allow inmates to purchase A/C adapters and the removable transformer plugs used to operate many low-amperage appliances. We want to be able to purchase adapters (to save on battery costs) and appliances which come with removable transformer plugs. 

L. MAIL; 
A. Service Mail service at MCSP is by far worse than we have collectively experienced at over twenty other prisons in the past thirty years. Late delivery (days, sometimes weeks, after mail arrives at MCSP); letters, pictures, stamps, and cards torn by envelope-opening cutters; misplaced stamps and photos; and constantly changing mailroom staff are just some of the many problems we frequently encounter. 

B. Confidential Mail 
Incoming confidential mail for MCSP inmates is frequently opened (and read?) by MCSP mailroom staff and delivered to inmates as regular mail (,often several days after arriving at MCSP). Such practices violate the law and our Constitutional rights. Incoming confidential Mail is only to be opened in our presence, never read by staff, and delivered the same day it arrives at MCSP. 

C. Money Orders 
Money orders arrive for us at MCSP from our loved ones in plenty of time for the money to be posted into our trust accounts prior to canteen draws and food sales, but MCSP does not get the money into our accounts until sometimes weeks have passed. We have been informed by staff members that all envelopes containing money orders (and letters) get put into bins located in the mailroom. When these bins become full (which may take several days or weeks), the envelopes containing money orders (as well as letters, stamps, photos, etc.) are taken to the inmate trust office so the money orders may be processed. We want money orders to be processed no later than the day after they arrive at MCSP. We also want the envelopes which contain money orders to be forwarded to us the same day they arrive at MCSP, rubber-stamped with the money order's amount and tracking number. 

D. Saturday Delivery 
MCSP delivers inmate mail Monday through Friday. However, the mailroom experiences so many staffing, sorting, and volume problems that inmate mail frequently does not get delivered every day. We believe it is reasonable to request that mail also be processed and delivered on Saturdays as it is at several other prisons and in society. 

E. Adult Magazines 
Several court rulings have established that inmates may receive adult magazines such as Hustler and Penthouse. State and federal obscenity laws clearly state what is legal and what is not legal for U.S. citizens (including prisoners) to purchase and possess. However, MCSP frequently censors, denies, and disallows adult magazines which do not meet the three-prong obscenity test established by federal courts. Even the CDC director's rules (CCR, Title 15), which is administrative law, is not being followed by MCSP in disallowing adult magazines. We want all adult magazines which may be legally mailed through the U.S. Postal Service to stop being withheld and denied. 

R. VISITING 
A. Terminations 
MCSP visiting rooms were designed to accommodate visiting for yard populations of only five hundred inmates. Because MCSP exceeds design capacity by more than one hundred percent, visiting rooms are always crowded and individual visits are regularly terminated early to crake room for other visitors. However, Title 15 § 3177(c)(11)(F) states that visits can only be terminated when visiting rooms are in use to MAXIMUM capacity. The Facility "B" general inmate population submitted a group proposal in July of '2000 suggesting several reasonable methods to effectively reduce the number of visiting terminations. True to form, MCSP ignored our input and continues to unnecessarily terminate visits in violation of not only Title 15 and D.O.M., but also its own operating procedures. We contend that MCSP is not utilizing space in the Facility "B" visiting room as efficiently as possible to avoid terminating visits. MCSP is therefore allowing visits to be terminated when visiting areas are NOT in use to maximum capacity. We want ,1CSP to explore the proposed suggestions we submitted in July of 7_000 for avoiding visit terminations. 

B. Vending Machines 
Food prices in vending machines provided for inmates and visitors in MCSP visiting rooms skyrocketed as soon as the contract with Brown Rear Enterprises expired and new vendors were chosen by MCSP. Sandwiches and meals went from $1.95 and $2.25 to .$3.00, burritos and Hot Pockets went from $1.00 each to- 1.50, bottled water went from .60; for sixteen ounces to $1.00 for twelve ounces, and sodas went from .45 to .75;. Our visitors tell us that the current prices they are forced to pay are outrageously expensive, extortionate, and NOT comparable to vending machines they use elsewhere. Since most prisoners' loved ones have financial difficulties, we feel it is unfair to charge them so much for visiting food. We propose offering the food vendor a certain number of the aluminum cans purchased and thrown away every visiting day in the visiting rooms to offset his exorbitant prices (see XIV. INMATE FUNDS, D. Aluminum Cans). At almost .05 a can, this would be a win/win solution for both the vendor and our visitors. 

C. Unexpected Visits 
"MCSP inmates sometimes receive unexpected/surprise visits from loved ones during work hours. Such visitors are turned away without getting to see the inmate they drove long distances to visit. If/When this occurs, we want MCSP to let us have the visit as long as the visitor has never visited while we have been assigned to our current work assignment, and allow us to use either Excused Time Off VETO) or non-disciplinary "A" time. 

D. Holiday Visits 
Title 15 § 3179(b) requires MCSP to conduct visiting on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Pay. Inmates forced to work on these holidays are not allowed to receive visits. They want MCSP inmates to be allowed to have holiday visits and either use Excused Time Off (ETO) or receive non-disciplinary "A" time in lieu of "Y" time. 

XI. YARD, RECREATION, PROGRAM, & ENTERTAINMENT ACTIVITIES 
A. Lack of Quality Activities/Programs MCSP does not provide us with as many of the meaningful free-time activities and programs which are offered at other California prisons (lifer groups, extensive handicraft, recovery groups for men wishing to deal with sexual addiction and other such problems, etc.). We want MCSP to allow us to develop and participate in quality activities which will have a positive effect on our incarceration and parole. 

B. Handicraft 
Title 15 § 3100 authorizes all California prisoners to participate in handicraft programs which allow us to create and sell goods for profit pursuant to CA Penal Code § 2601. We have been to prisons where we have made and sold leather goods (belts, wallets, etc.), picture frames, sculptures, models, and figurines made out of popsicle sticks, and all sorts of other handicraft items. Other level-III and level-IV prisons allow inmates to purchase and possess various handicraft supplies such as colored paper and cellophane, glue, glitter, leather, popsicle sticks, and other supplies necessary for quality handicraft. MCSP only allows us to have colored pencils, acrylic paint and watercolors, brushes, and white art paper. It has been said that MCSP received approximately two million dollars several years ago to establish a handicraft program and build a handicraft store on MCSP property so we could sell our goods to the public. We don't know how true that rumor is, but we were also told that when two inmates filed an inmate appeal about that issue, they were retaliated against with disciplinary action based on false/set-up charges and transferred to other prisons. We want a handicraft program comparable to what we can demonstrate exists at other prisons and the ability to sell our goods to the public for profit as authorized by Title 15 and the CA Penal Code. 

C. Recreation Budget 
It is our understanding that MCSP has a recreation budget from which recreational supplies (balls, games, cards, etc.) are supposed to be purchased. Ever since April of 2001, we have received fewer and fewer recreational supplies until we now have almost nothing compared to what we had prior to the year 2001. We want an audit of the MCSP recreation budget to ensure that money allotted for our recreational supplies has not been mismanaged. 

D. In-Cell/Lock-Down Time 
MCSP is constantly coming up with reasons to justify keeping us locked inside our cells for long periods of time during which we normally are at work, in school, taking showers, on the exercise yard, and taking part in other program activities. "Staff training", "generator testing", heat alerts, and fog conditions are some of the more common reasons given for keeping us locked inside our cells during program time. However, these excuses are given so frequently, and we are left in our cells for such long periods of time, that we have difficulty believing that lock-downs are not being conducted for reasons other than those given. Inmates have observed officers and supervisory staff conducting social gatherings, pot-luck meals, parties, and other such functions while inmates are locked inside cells. 

E. "Down" Days 
Approximately six hundred men on Facility "R" at MCSP are adversely affected every week because MCSP shuts down all daytime (0600-1400) day-room activities (especially showers) one day every week in Buildings #7,#8, and #9 (which each house two hundred men). To make matters worse, two of the housing units (7 and 9) experience these second-watch "down" days on weekdays when third-watch staff conduct in-service training (Tuesdays and Thursdays), thus making it almost impossible for inmates who worked all day to get showers. Many inmates with jobs in vocational shops and PIA Sewing work all day with/around chemicals such as gasoline, oil, formaldehyde, heavy/toxic metals and fumes, and other such irritants. which need to be showered off as soon as possible after work. In housing units with "down" days, men are unable to shower until as late as 1930 hours (2015 if their custody is Close-B) -- as much as six hours after they left work. We want second-watch workers to be able to get showers BEFORE the evening meal every work day regardless of "down" days and staff IST. We also want building officers to conduct a controlled shower program on "down" days so all men may get showers. 

F. Movie Videos; 
Title 15 5 3220.4 authorizes prisons to show movies not rated above PG-13 to inmates. The only restriction on such movies is that they not glorify violence or sex or be inflammatory to the climate of the institution. MCSP presumes to have authority to restrict movies even further by prohibiting those which show women kissing each other and female nudity. Despite the Puritanical standards imposed against us by certain MCSP staff members responsible for ordering and playing movie videos, MCSP has shown us movies which showed a man having sex with a live tiger, movies which showed full frontal and rear nudity of a female toddler ("American Rhapsody"), and several movies which showed male nudity. In addition, 4CSP regularly plays cartoons and children's movies which offend us because we are not children. We want MCSP to stop censoring PG-13 movies which show female nudity -- especially since the pornographic adult magazines we have a legal right to receive through the mail contain much more explicit, titillating, and graphic nudity than anything a PG-13 movie might briefly flash across the screen. 

G. Edited Movie Videos 
Title 15 3 3220.4 authorizes movie videos not rated above PG-13 to be shown to the adult men incarcerated at MCSP. Provision is also made .for exceptions to the PG-13 rating, but MCSP will not allow us to view movies not rated PG-13 which were specially edited at the time of production for showing to specific audiences such as airline passengers and prison inmates. Instead, MCSP shows us cartoons and other children's movies which customarily receive a PG-13 rating by the 'Motion Picture Association of .America. We want to be able to view the specially edited movie videos available to MCSP through Criterion and Swank (video vendors currently used by MCSP). 

H. A2-B Inmates 
Title 15 gives all A2-B inmates the exact same privileges and access to yard, recreation, and entertainment activities as those received by A1-A inmates (cross-reference `;;; .3044!c)(3)f,1F,) and 3044'd)(3)(E)). However, MCSP forbids A2-R inmates from participating in weekend/holiday yard with Al-A inmates, daily evening yard with A1-A inmates, and evening dayroom with Al-A inmates. We want MCSP to follow what the law says about A2-?i inmates getting the same yard, recreation, and entertainment privileges as A1-A inmates. 

I. Prizes Title 15 5 3220(d) states that prizes awarded to inmates for participation in recreational activities and contests may be purchased using money from the Inmate Welfare Fund (I'JF1. A maximum of three sodas is all MCSP will award individual inmates who WIN tournaments (no sodas or other prizes are awarded to participants who do not win -- contrary to what is stated in § 3220(d) of Title 15 about awarding PARTICIPANTS). If./When individual inmates enter and win more than one tournament event, MCSP refuses to award those inmates the three sodas they should be awarded for each event they win. Tae want MCSP to start awarding prizes to all inmates who participate in recreational activities and contests, and to award winners of multiple events the full prize for each tournament won (e.g., six sodas to an inmate who enters and wins two events for which three sodas are awarded to the winner or each). 

J. VSG Pins 
Title 15 and the CDC operations manual authorizes inmate members of organizations and activity groups to wear buttons and lapel pins to show affiliation. MCSP does not allow its inmate Veterans Support Group (VSG) members to wear small lapel pins of the U.S. flag even though other prisons allow inmate members of veterans groups to wear such pins. In light of the tragic events which took place on September 11, 2001, MCSP should be doing whatever it can to encourage inmates to be patriotic and loyal to America, instead of denying veterans the means to show love and loyalty to their country. 

XII. CANTEEN 
A. Sugar & Honey Instead of punishing only individual offenders, MCSP too all natural cane sugar and honey out of the inmate canteen because less than one percent of the total MCSP inmate population uses those items to make wine. Such blanket punishment is unfair. Since wine at MCSP is still being made on a regular basis, the only inmates suffering because they cannot have sugar and honey are those who do not make wine. We are now forced to sweeten our foods and beverages with artificial sweeteners which are loaded with chemicals. We want natural cane sugar and honey added back to the inmate canteen. 

XIII. WORK ASSIGNMENTS 
A. Gym/Level-II Inmates 
Almost every one of the approximately 130 level-II inmates packed into the Facility "B" ;;gymnasium is assigned to jobs intended for Facility "B"'s one thousand level-III inmates. This means that approximately 130 level-III inmates are unable to receive a work assignment. Since level-II gym housing is supposed to be "emergency" and "temporary" (meaning inmates are not supposed to be made to live in such deplorable conditions for more than ninety day), we want them sent to a level-II sensitive-needs prison as soon as their ninety days are up. 'We also want level-III inmates to have priority on Facility "B" job assignments since Facility "B" at 4CSP is a level-III yard for level-III inmates with sensitive-housing needs. 

B. Close-B Inmates 
Title 15 clearly states that inmates whose custody level is "Close-B" may work in job assignments located beyond the work-change area within designated institutions which have an established facility security perimeter (Title 15 5 3377.1(a)(4)(A)and(B)). PIA and certain vocational classes at "4CSP (an institution which has an established facility security perimeter) are located beyond the work change area in the same building as all vocational training shops. however, MOSP refuses to allow Close-B inmates to work in PIA and certain vocations in spite of what the law says. 

C. Paid Assignments 
Compared to other prisons we have collectively been to over the years, MCSP seems to have far fewer paid inmate job assignments. Clerks, teacher's aides, kitchen workers, and a certain number of yard workers and building porters (according to seniority) get paid for their work at other prisons. MCSP does not pay any yard workers or building porters. We wonder why other prisons do, but MCSP does not. We want this matter investigated. Perhaps an audit/investigation of the MCSP Inmate Pay Committee would be appropriate. 

D. Days Off 
.We want there to be at least two job positions in each work area on each shift which have Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays off. These positions should be offered and/or made available to inmates based upon seniority. 

E. Vocational Apprentices 
MCSP inmates who have completed initial vocational training, and are now in vocational apprenticeship programs, frequently get transferred to other institutions where they are put at the bottom of vocational waiting lists and given no priority over other inmates to resume apprenticeship training. We want MCSP to stop transferring inmates who have not yet completed vocational apprenticeship training. 

IV. INMATE FUNDS 
A. Inmate Welfare Fund (IWF) The Inmate Welfare Fund (see CA Penal Code ,5 .5005) is a great mystery to MCSP inmates. Despite repeated inquiries by inmates and requests by MAC representatives, ASP makes no effort to explain to us what the IWF is, what IWF money is/is not supposed to used for, and what rights we as inmates have regarding the Int. (i.e., account disclosure, use, etc.). We want to know everything there is to know about the IWF and request an audit to ensure that the IWF has not been mishandled by MCSP in any way unfavorable to us in our ignorance. 

B. Fund-Raising 
Title 15 § 3240 authorizes each inmate activity group to conduct up to three fund-raising campaigns every year for general funds and donations to non-profit and charity organizations. Common practice at every prison we have been to is for each inmate activity group to have its own separate trust account to ensure that money raised by a group is used by and for only that group. MCSP has closed all separate trust accounts for individual inmate activity groups and combined them into one single account it calls "the general fund". This makes it seemingly impossible for groups to track, utilize, and account for money raised by them for their own use. On top of that, MCSP has severely restricted the fund-raising ability of inmate activity groups by limiting them to only one fund-raiser per only one yard's activity group per year. For example, if the Facility "A" Alcoholics Anonymous group conducts a fund-raiser this year, Facility "C" activity groups will not be allowed to conduct one at all this year or next year unless none of the Facility "B" activity groups want to conduct a fund-raiser next year. We want each inmate activity group at MCSP to have separate trust accounts and be allowed to conduct at least two fund-raisers per year -- even if it means putting the individual groups on separate yards under a single umbrella. For example, instead of having three individual Alcoholics Anonymous groups ("A", "13", "C"), there could be only one MCSP Alcoholics Anonymous group with three chapters ("A", "B", "C"). That way, when Alcoholics Anonymous conducts a fund-raiser, it will be for all three yards simultaneously, with the proceeds being deposited into a single ;MCSP Alcoholics Anonymous account. This could apply to all of MCSP's individual activity groups (AA, PIA, CGA, VSG, etc.). 

C. Aluminum Cans 
Thousands of aluminum soda cans are purchased and discarded every day of every week of every year by MCSP inmates (bought from the canteen) and their visitors (bought from vending machines in the visiting rooms). The aluminum cans bought from the canteen rightfully belong to us, and the cans purchased in the visiting rooms to our visitors. MCSP (or someone associated with the prison) recycles our aluminum cans but we have no idea where all the money goes. Since the California redemption value for a single aluminum can is almost .05, someone is raking in thousands of dollars every few months from cans we and our visitors purchase. We want all the money from our aluminum cans to be put into an account from which the MCSP general inmate population as a whole shall be able to make contributions to non-profit organizations and charities of our choice, pay salaries of additional staff needed for special recreational/entertainment events, make improvements to visiting rooms and other areas used by inmates and visitors, and purchase items and supplies which will benefit us. We do not want money from our aluminum cans going toward anything not unanimously approved by our MAC. 

RV. CLOTHING 
A. Rain ear & Insulated Jackets 
The law states that ALL inmates WILL be issued the-extra/protective clothing required by the climate IN ADDITION TO a denim jacket (Title 15 5§ 3030(b)(1)!F) and 3030(b)(2)(F)). MCSP is located in an area of northern California where frequent winter rain and cold winter temperatures make rain gear and insulated jackets ;mandatory for both staff and inmates alike. MCSP inmates are forced to be exposed to adverse outside weather conditions when walking 100-400 yards every day to/from meals; when responding to calls and passes for :medical, dental, classification, mental health, chapel services, packages, canteen, etc.; when reporting to/from work; when walking 200-500 yards to/from the visiting room; when education supervisors take lunch and mandatory 20-minute breaks at least three times per day (these breaks require all education students and workers -approximately 150 men -- to stand outside on the exercise yard with no shelter of any kind while waiting to be called back into the classrooms); and when exercising or participating in outdoor recreational and entertainment activities. However, despite all this outdoor exposure MCSP inmates are subjected to, MCSP refuses to comply with the law and issue ALL inmates rain gear and insulated jackets for winter wear/use. Men incarcerated at MCSP are therefore forced to suffer frigid winter temperatures (30deg;F - 45;F), rain, and wind without the extra/protective clothing guaranteed by law. MCSP has plenty of yellow rain gear and insulated blue nylon jackets for everyone's use, but only certain inmates receive them instead of everyone as the law requires. We want ALL MCSP inmates to receive the yellow rain gear (tops and bottoms) and insulated blue nylon jackets currently only being given to certain inmates. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees all U.S. citizens (including prisoners) equal protection of the law. Title 15 5§ 3030(b)(1)(F) and (b)(2)(F) are laws designed to protect ALL California state prisoners from the climate 

VI. INMATE DISCIPLINE 
A. Blanket Punishment Instead of punishing only the individual inmates who commit various rules violations common in prisons throughout the state, country, and world (making wine, concealing contraband within items of personal property, smuggling drugs, etc.), MCSP punishes all inmates for the misbehavior of a few by stripping us all of whatever privilege(s), accommodation(s), and/or amenity(ies) were abused by the few guilty inmates in breaking prison rules. The Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that all American citizens (including prisoners) will have equal protection of the law, that the privileges of U.S. citizens (including prisoners) shall not be abridged, and that no person shall be deprived of liberty or property without due process of law. By suddenly making it no longer possible for us to receive oranges and other such varieties of fruit, honey, natural cane sugar, footlockers, non-transparent property items, etc., especially since prisoners at other level-III and level-IV prisons are receiving these items, MCSP is treating the entire general inmate population unfairly and punitively instead of punishing only the men guilty of breaking rules. This in turn encourages men who do not break rules to be angry and sometimes even violent toward men who do break rules and/or get implicated as causing removal of certain privileges, accommodations, and amenities. We want MCSP to stop its policy of blanket punishment and restore to us everything taken away as a result of the misbehavior of only a few inmates. 

B. Confidential "Snitch") Information 
It is suspected by many MCSP inmates that MCSP not only gives immunity to inmates guilty of rules violations in exchange for often false, vague, and uncorroborated information about other inmates, but also uses that often bogus information to take adverse disciplinary action (confinement in ad-seg, rules violation reports, frequent cell moves and searches, transfers, etc.) against inmates. This is not only unfair to the men being "ratted" on, but also encourages violence against the men who give such information or are even suspected of doing so. It also encourages cowardly inmates to provide false information against other inmates in exchange for expected favors. We want MCSP to not rely on information from inmates to justify taking adverse action against other inmates. 

XVII. MEN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL 
A. Accommodations 
Title 15 3 3230(g)(1)(A)-(E) and D.O.M. 3 53120.11 use :mandatory language in requiring that the Facility "B" Men's Advisory Council (MAC) be provided with an office, office furniture, supplies and stationery, and either immediate access to a copy machine or its own copy machine. Despite repeated requests by the Facility "B" 3AC, MCSP will not accommodate them in accordance with administrative law (Title 15 and D.O.M.). Our MAC is unable to reach its full potential in becoming as effective, efficient, and professional as they could with proper accommodations. Tae want our MAC to be provided with an office, office furniture, supplies and stationery, and either a copy machine of its own or immediate access to any of the several copy machines on the yard. 

B. Staff Responses 
Title 15 5 3230(i)(2) and D.O.M. sect; 53120 makes it mandatory that MCSP staff give timely written responses to all issues raised by the Facility "B" MAC (so denials may be formally appealed). MCSP provides neither timely nor written responses to issues raised by the Facility "B" ~IAC. Instead, the Facility "B" MAC is always being told that issues will get looked into, but there is never any follow-through or follow-up responses unless the MAC raises the issues again several weeks later. 'They want all MCSP staff to promptly respond in writing to all issues raised by the Facility "B" MAC so formal appeal procedures may be initiated when unsatisfactory responses are given. 

C. Respect 
The Facility "B" general inmate population gets the impression that our MAC and its representatives are not respected by MCSP staff. Title 1.5 ~ 3230 and D.O.M. 3 53120 clearly establish that our MAC is a valid and recognized organization worthy of proper recognition and respect. They frequently see MAC representatives being talked down to and/or yelled at by officers. We want MCSP staff members to respect our MAC and take our MAC representatives seriously when they are advocating on our behalf and/or representing our concerns and interests. 

D. Authority 
Title 15 5 3230 and D.O.M. 5 53120 provides clear guidance to wardens on effective "MAC operations. The Facility "B" general inmate population is unhappy with the way MCSP staff members seem to keep our MAC suppressed and oppressed to the point it can barely function as authorized. We want the MCSP warden to help change MAC/employee relations at MCSP through appropriate training and dialogue, and allow/encourage the Facility "B" MAC to become what it has the potential and legal authority to become. 

XVIII. WASTE, FRAUD, THEFT, ABUSE 
A. Landscaping 
Thousands of dollars (at least $10,000.00) were wasted when MCSP staff ripped hundreds of beautiful annuals, perennials, shrubs, and grass out of the ground and just threw them into the garbage.